Golden Gate and Pier Park for city courses.
Stafford for natural beauty and wildlife.
Horning's for a full day with three courses.

But there's nowhere like Milo McIver - stunningly beautiful, varied, and techinical. And where else can you play two winter rounds in the morning and catch steelhead on fly rods all afternoon in the winter. Or play an after work round in the summer and catch trout on the fly when the evening hatch starts 20 minutes before sunset. Without having to move your car.

I'm going to post mine, even though I've only played 25 courses and it's pretty western PA dominant. I've got a few road trips planned in 2014 that should shake this up a bit, but for now here's where things stand, a year and a half into my disc golfing experience.

4) Deer Lakes - Fantastic course with some through-the-roof memorable holes (I'll never forget staring down the barrel of hole 3, in which "things got real"). I didn't love it as much as some others, but still a fantastic course.

3) Knob Hill - A western PA classic. Doesn't have the wow factor of Deer Lakes, but is all-around more consistent. There's just a magic to how this course flows and comes together that makes for a special round to me.

2) Orange Crush - This course doesn't get talked about enough. In an area loaded with options for great golf, Orange Crush stands out as a true tour de force in the woods. Easily the most challenging course I've ever played, and yet, extremely fair and enjoyable regardless. I can't rave enough about this course: it plays a very particular kind of golf due to the omnipresent woods, but does about as much as you could do within that context. Awesome, awesome, awesome. I imagine this'll always be near the top for me, as it's truly quality.

1) Moraine State Park - Simply the best course I've played, in any and all aspects. Super varied, great flow, gorgeous setting. Any time I talk about this course I feel my descriptions are inadequate.

Honorable Mention: Linbrook - Best course you've never heard of. Only 9 holes, and still rough around the edges, but boy does this have the makings of something special. At least three of the four 500'+ par 4s would be in my top 10 most memorable holes. They all are extremely challenging - 3 is almost undoubtedly the hardest hole I've ever played - and pushed my game to new places. Balancing these out are a masterful mix of densely wooded holes that cover an amazing variety for only 9. I really hope this course gets expanded to 18 in the near future and becomes better groomed. Under those conditions, it could easily become the best course in the area. And that's saying something.

- - - - -

I'm looking forward to heading to eastern PA next summer and pitting Tyler/Nockamixon/etc against the best western PA has to offer!

Five months later and the list of favorites has indeed changed.

10) Blue Angel Park - Oaks: Overlooked. Nice mix of shots including some legit par 4s, variety of levels of woodedness, and even some elevation that, while modest, is noticeable and welcome in the Gulf area. Great park to visit, with three quality 18s on site.

9) Shawshank: Hella fun. Didn't find it to be a truly transcendent course - it was a bit too exclusively par 3 for that IMHO - but it was a great stop with some really memorable scenery and holes.

8) Trey Texas Ranch - Trey Deuce: A bit of extrapolation here as it was in poor condition when I visited. Tons of variation in the terrain - possibly the most I've ever seen in an 18 hole course - that begets a whole host of shots. 18 is one of the most memorable holes I've ever played, and the hilariously tight hole 15 is another one that sticks in my mind.

7) Deer Lakes Park: Classic western PA park course in its integration of woods, open shots, and transitions between the two. I'm hoping to visit this again next month when I'm back in the area because I was a bit disappointed the first time around relative to its reputation. Still a great course.

6) Knob Hill Park: Not the pizzazz of Deer Lakes, but super duper solid. It just comes together for me so well that the whole transcends the parts.

5) Selah Ranch - Creekside: There's a pretty clear division in quality between the previous five and my top five. Creekside is an unbelievable course, with some of the most brow-furrowing holes I've ever played, intermixed with an array of memorable shots and fun challenges. Hole 3 is delightfully heart-pounding.

4) Trey Texas Ranch - Texas Twist: More extrapolation. I think a well-groomed Texas Twist is going to be right up there with the best of the best. Probably won't threaten Lakeside, but it's close in my mind - the stretch in woods from 7-15 is an awesome counterpoint to the more wide open holes found elsewhere on the property.

3) Orange Crush: Still overlooked, still phenomenal. Proof that a course can be ridiculously challenging, widely appealing, and varied all at once.

2) Moraine State Park: Hilariously, this is the first course I ever played. I'm pretty sure I shot over 100 that round. Awesome course, with a fabulous range of par 3s, 4s, and 5s. Some really memorable, unique holes that are seared into my mind's eye. I'm looking forward to spending some more time with it this summer when I'm in the area.

1) Selah Ranch - Lakeside: As an old football coach of mine used to say, "beyond the beyond." Playing Lakeside was one of the most aesthetic experiences of my life, akin to seeing an amazing concert or having an out-of-this-world meal. It has so many memorable moments that are so thoughtfully assembled. I'll be curious to see if a course ever dethrones it from my personal list.

~

Nice to compare this to where I was in December. Not sure what I will and won't get to play this coming summer, and probably nothing that will truly challenge the top three courses, but some new ones should be making the list.